


left alone with your deeds (and things left undone)

by MoragMacPherson



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Canon-Typical Ableism, Canon-Typical Violence, Deaf Bodhi Rook, Deaf Character, Hurt/Comfort, Jedi Luke Skywalker, M/M, Off screen Torture, POV Bodhi Rook, despite the source material somehow there is no smut, inspired by the shape of water - Freeform, really kind of a heist fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 08:52:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15793179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoragMacPherson/pseuds/MoragMacPherson
Summary: Director Krennic thinks Bodhi will be perfect for the job. AThe Shape of Water-inspired roguejedi AU.





	left alone with your deeds (and things left undone)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [attackedastoria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/attackedastoria/gifts).



> So you guys all know my amazingly talented and wonderful friend attackedastoria? It's coming up on her birthday again. And she's more than a little fond of the movie _The Shape of Water_ , as well she should be, so when I was thinking about what to write for her birthday, this was the first really decent idea I had. 
> 
> And then it wound up taking 15k. And getting finished a month early. And then, the worst torture: _I couldn't tell her about it for a whole damn month._ Surprise, my darling!
> 
> Many thanks to eisoj5, who gracefully played cheerleader for me and helped with research through my early worries about how to respectfully portray a deaf character as well as every other insecurity I had about doing something pretty damn plotty. Then she beta'd it too. And then got me in contact with a second beta from the Deaf community, Emmy (twitter: @a_bibliognost) via her contacts with Kay Taylor Rea of the podcast 'Not Now I'm Reading,' both of whom have my deepest thanks for helping me make sure the representation worked.
> 
> For the purposes of this fic, dialogue conveyed in Galactic Sign (which should be considered a translation of a language with its own grammar and syntax) uses these «» quotation marks, whereas Basic appears in typical English quotation marks.
> 
> And again, happy birthday, Astoria! I'm sorry that once again (and despite the source material) it contains no smut. ;)

No one ever _wants_ to be called into the Director's office, even if they're pretty sure they haven't done anything worth being called into the Director's office. With all the recent activity at Eadu, and reported visits from Lord Vader, however, everyone's a bit on edge and right now, Bodhi's trying to compose himself a little bit before he's called in, telling his hands to stop shaking. Once inside, Director Krennic looks mostly at ease behind his desk as Bodhi salutes him, though he does have that perpetual put-out expression on his face. "Ah, Ensign Rook, just the man I seem to need," he says, scarcely looking up from his data pad, though Bodhi notices his scowl seems to deepen, and he stands a bit more at attention.

"Yes, sir, Director Krennic— I mean, I am Ensign Rook, and I'm at your service, sir, whatever that service might be," he says, cursing himself internally as he waits for a reply.

"It says here in your file that you're one of our cybernetically enhanced enlisteds," says Krennic, glancing up. "Auditory implants."

Bodhi swallows roughly, resisting the urge to reach up and touch the little buds that are covered by his hair so no one will notice them. "That's correct, sir. The, uh, Navy gave me a new pair when I graduated from the Academy. I was quite grateful, sir."

"How nice for you, as it says you've no hearing at all without them. But you didn't always have them, yes?"

Bodhi nods, hands gripping his uniform in his nervousness. "That's also correct, sir. I, uh— I didn't lose my hearing until I was eight, there was an, uh— there was an attack at the market, I was… a little too close to a grenade."

Krennic shakes his head. "Tragic," he drones. "But I mean to say, you didn't always have the auditory implants even after you lost your hearing— says here that you're fluent in Galactic Standard Sign?"

Bodhi releases his grip on his coveralls and lets himself sign the answer. «We didn't have much money so I used sign exclusively until I was fifteen when my mother had saved enough money to buy my first implants,» he signs, keeping his motions relatively slow and clear, and barely remembering to tag a «sir» to the end.

Krennic lets out a little sniff, his eyes following the motions of Bodhi's hands but betraying no comprehension. "Did that actually mean anything?" he asks, apparently to the thin air until a massive KX-series droid steps out of the shadows— Bodhi has to control a flinch, and can't stop his hands from responding. "And did he say something just now?" Krennic asks, almost as if Bodhi himself isn't standing right there.

"Yes, Director, he said, 'Aren't you a little large for a protocol droid?'" intones the droid, somehow sounding vaguely amused. "And apparently he didn't get his auditory implants until he was fifteen. He appears fluent enough."

"Very good then," says Krennic, sitting up a little and entering a few inputs into his datapad. "Ensign Rook, thanks to your, ah, particular talents, you are immediately being reassigned to a special project and consequently will be required to surrender your auditory implants for the duration," he says, pulling out a small box and pointing at it, tilting his head when Bodhi just stares at it. "Come along now, I'm given to understand that they're simple enough to remove, and I've already given you entirely too much of my time," he says, tapping the box. "The droid will explain your duties to you," he adds.

Bodhi blinks a couple of times but there's really no use in trying to argue with the Director, so he obediently removes the buds from his ears— he'd feel self conscious about the process except for the fact that the director's already pulled out another data pad and the droid has turned its head. When he sets the implants in the box, Krennic slaps it closed promptly and tucks it away in his desk, his lips scarcely moving at all, but the handwave confirms his 'Now go get him trained,' to the droid.

«Come with me, the duties will be simple to explain,» signs the droid— the movements are surprisingly fluid though still a bit mechanical, though the lack of facial expressions means he's using more hand signs than Bodhi's used to. Bodhi takes a deep breath and follows the droid out of the office and off to the mess hall. «This is enough privacy, it's not like anyone else will understand us,» explains the droid, gesturing for Bodhi to sit.

Bodhi sighs and takes his seat, eyeing the few other people in the relatively empty mess— Galen's not around, so the droid is right about no one being able to understand them. «Yes, but now they'll all know that I usually use cybernetics, you know how people are.» 

The droid's optic sensors brighten just a little bit. «Yes, I know how people are. My name, which you didn't ask for, is K-2SO. You may call me Kay for short, most people do. Have you ever heard of the Jedi?»

Bodhi's brow furrows and he's tempted to remind Kay that he's from Jedha, of _course_ he's heard of the Jedi, but that seems less relevant than, «I thought they were all killed.»

«Not yet. They've brought one here.»

Bodhi's eyes go a little wide but he shakes his head. «Why do they need a deaf pilot to deal with a Jedi?»

Kay's movements get a little bit jerkier. «The Jedi has a talent for making organics that can hear him do what he says, and he's also been effective at disassembling droids. So they've brought in a man who can't hear him to serve as his caretaker and a droid that's resistant to disassembly to assist you when necessary. Other than his interrogators, we will be the only beings permitted contact with him. Do you understand?»

Bodhi squeezes the bridge of his nose and lets out a sigh. «Not really. Why don't they just kill him?» he asks.

Kay's head tilts to one side. «Do you really think either of us are cleared to know that?»

«Good point.» Bodhi sighs again. «I think I need some caf, I'll be right back,» he signs, getting up and walking towards the caf carafes as he tries to process everything that's happened. At least not having his auditory implants in means he has the quiet he needs to think— about effectively being demoted to a janitor, about how easy it was for the Empire to decide to just take his implants away without saying how long it would be before he could have them back, about the ethical ramifications of helping the Empire to probably torture one of the last surviving Jedi— 

— okay, maybe it's _not_ a good thing that Bodhi has all this silence to fill with his thoughts. _Just do the job, Rook, it's what you said to yourself when you signed up, it's just a damned job._ He downs a cup of caf, standing there at the carafes, and refills his mug before heading back to the table. Kay looks… well, he looks like a droid, and it's a little infuriating that Krennic thought a droid would be sufficient companionship for however long this is going to last. «What are my actual duties going to be?»

Bodhi's actual duties are pretty much what he was expecting: the prisoner needs to be fed, provided with clothing, and his cell… cleaned, which given what Bodhi knows about Imperial interrogators is probably the least appealing part of the job, along with not being able to fly and having his implants taken away. And of course, all of this is highly classified. «I'm a top secret janitor,» he signs, once Kay's given him the full rundown. «Wonderful.»

To Bodhi's surprise, Kay's body language is remarkably expressive as he replies. «You know how people can be. Come along, it's time to feed the prisoner.»

Bodhi takes a deep breath. _Okay, this is the job and I can do this._ He gets a tray together easily enough and follows Kay through the halls and checkpoints— and there are a _lot_ of security checkpoints, Bodhi's never been anywhere near this deep in the facility before— before they reach the final guard station.

«There will be an antechamber which is as far as I am supposed to go, barring you signalling that you need me. Try not to need me, I'd rather not be disassembled,» says Kay once he's handed Bodhi the tray and the signalling device— Bodhi tries not to think of it as a panic button as he tucks it into his pocket, nodding to Kay, who opens the doors for him.

The door snaps shut behind him the moment he's stepped inside. Bodhi can feel the percussion of the doors slamming back together, and he swallows roughly. The cell is… larger than he'd been expecting, and more than a bit of a mess, all of the furniture strewn about it and several of the panels dented unnaturally, with a sort of thick, very organic stink.

The prisoner— the Jedi— is… a lot younger than Bodhi was expecting, given that most of the Jedi had been killed when he was just a boy. This guy looks younger than he is, hair matted and cheeks drawn and hollow with facial hair that's almost ridiculously patchy and wispy, and Bodhi's lip reading skills are really rusty, but he doesn't seem terribly happy to see Bodhi.

Bodhi feels an odd tingle on his skin as the Jedi says something to him while gesturing his hand— he might be saying 'open the door'— but Bodhi just finds a small table among the overturned belongings and sets the tray down on it. 

When he turns around the Jedi looks… _confused_ and Bodhi sighs. He points at the tray and says "Eat." It's simple enough to say without feeling self-conscious about how it might sound without being able to hear himself— his hands signing the word as well. The Jedi seems suspicious— not that Bodhi blames him— and shakes his head. He starts speaking entirely too quickly, but Bodhi does see the same word, 'drugged' a few times, which makes a certain amount of sense. Bodhi picks up a stick of vegmeat and breaks off a piece of it, popping it into his mouth, giving the Jedi a pointed look as he chews and swallows.

After a moment the Jedi nods and suddenly snatches the tray away from the table with unnatural swiftness, though Bodhi suspects the haste with which he starts eating is entirely natural. Well, at least he's making sure the boy is fed. He looks around the room again— he can see what look like droid parts and remnants of the surveillance equipment in tiny pieces littered around the room, as is the tiny 'fresher unit. Bodhi glances over at the Jedi, who's all but licking the tray, and wonders why the hell he tore _that_ apart, but at least understands why the cell— and the prisoner— smell so badly now. «You smell, I'll fix that,» he signs, but the Jedi isn't even paying attention to him and there's no reason to think he'd understand even if he were.

Bodhi doesn't have any tools on him to fix the 'fresher right now; instead he picks up what he can, straightening out the furniture and pulling the smelly bedding off the mattress. He wonders at how easily they rip when he tugs on them, but realizes it's probably a safety measure, not that he sees anything in the cell that the prisoner could actually hang himself off of— desperation might breed ingenuity. Bodhi considers using the scraps to clean up the rest of the mess, wrinkling his nose, then decides against it— he's not paid enough for that.

"I'll be back, I need equipment—" he both says and signs, but he can tell by the look on the Jedi's face that his speech is already suffering from not being able to hear himself and he doesn't bother saying «to clean this,» only signing it— fuck, he _hates_ that look of pity, even more for the fact that he's being pitied by someone who's locked in this situation, and he grabs the empty tray away with a scowl before heading to the door.

He turns and presses the signal button, raising his finger and wagging it at the prisoner to signal him not to try anything. Even with the prisoner on the other side of the room and Bodhi stepping back through the door as quickly as he can once the door opens, the Jedi still almost manages to sneak through, and the door panel bulges where the Jedi must have struck it. Bodhi closes his eyes for a moment to collect himself, leaning against the wall.

«Congratulations, you survived,» signs Kay once he's opened his eyes.

Bodhi lets out a shaky laugh. «Didn't think that was going to be an issue on this job.»

«Now you know,» signs Kay and Bodhi laughs again— okay, maybe this particular droid wouldn't be the worst assistant and interpreter. Kay handles the negotiations with the security chief for tools to fix the 'fresher, and is courteous enough to provide Bodhi with a device that converts Kay's audio inputs and outputs into text so that Bodhi can follow the conversation without interpretation— Bodhi half wishes that he could get one that would work independent of the droid. Of course, once they have the tools and cleansers and clean sheets, Bodhi's the one stuck going into the cell with a prisoner who has superpowers. But it's fine— it's not like he's given the Jedi any reason to attack him. Bodhi hitches the pack of equipment a little higher on his shoulders, then signs to Kay that he's ready to go in.

The Jedi doesn't make an immediate try for the door this time, sitting in the bed alcove and watching Bodhi with glittering eyes that seem too old for his face. Bodhi waves at him friendly enough, then heads over to the 'fresher unit and sets the pack down inside it before pulling out the tools and getting to work. It's not the easiest job in the world, especially because he keeps looking over his shoulder to keep track of where the Jedi is.

At first the longer he remains still on the bed, the more paranoid Bodhi gets, which is only heightened by knowing he can't hear him moving around. But eventually Bodhi loses himself in the rhythm of the work— fixing machines is at least a little closer to his actual training than sanitation— and he's satisfied when he turns the water back on and everything's working properly.

He's not prepared for how close the Jedi is when he gets up— _fuck, his eyes are really blue_ — but the Jedi seems more eager to use the restored facilities than intent on attacking Bodhi, not that Bodhi blames him. Once he's recovered from being startled, he grabs the pack and pulls it over to the other corner of the cell so he can pack the tools away, pulling out a fresh set of clothes made of that same tearable fabric as the bedding. When he turns towards the 'fresher again, the Jedi is yanking his shirt off, and… he has a lot of muscles, which Bodhi probably should have expected, given all the dents, but his mouth goes a bit dry all the same.

Bodhi shakes his head— _not a useful thought_ — and leaves the clothes on the table where the Jedi should see them once he's done washing up, then sets about putting on the sheets and cleaning up the rest of the mess. Bodhi's used to people treating him as invisible when he doesn't have his implants in— and the Jedi's obviously been waiting a long time for this shower.

The cell smells much better when Bodhi finishes cleaning, as does the Jedi, who looks a bit better with clean clothes on. He seems to be studying Bodhi's movements, which is a bit nerve wracking. Bodhi's reaching for the signal button in his pocket when the Jedi makes what looks like an attempt to repeat the sign for 'eat' which Bodhi had used on his first visit. Bodhi nods and both says and signs, "I'll be right back," and the Jedi nods, retreating to his bed. He doesn't even try for the door when Bodhi leaves, which… is hopefully progress.

Once the Jedi is fed his dinner, thankfully without incident, Kay helps Bodhi get his things moved from the shuttle to the barracks where, due to his condition, he's permitted a private if tiny room, and helps Bodhi order his own food from the mess before heading to his recharging station for the night. Bodhi feels more than a little nervous without the droid, but tries to work on his lip reading as best he can while he eats until one of the officers starts staring back at him— right, staring is rude. Bodhi finishes his meal as quickly as he can after that and heads to his room, too afraid of being caught wandering around without any way to explain himself to go looking for Galen.

«It's a little awkward, eating in here without you,» Bodhi signs to Kay while they're waiting in the mess hall line for breakfast the next morning.

«I don't understand, you're just here to eat which I cannot assist you with, why would it be awkward?» he signs back, though the movements seem a little off.

Bodhi frowns, wondering if he should even have attempted this conversation before his morning caf. «Are you making fun of me?»

Kay's visual sensors brighten slightly. «My apologies. As you pointed out when we first met, protocol is not my primary programming set and I often find the peculiarities of organic social interactions,» and Kay pauses briefly before he signs, «tiresome.»

Bodhi laughs, which he must do loudly because a few heads turn towards him, and he blushes before signing back to Kay. «I've never met a sarcastic security droid before, that's all.» He looks around again a little sheepishly at the people who seem to be put off by their signing. «Maybe I should just eat with the Jedi when I take him his meals, that way you don't have to put up with my tiresome organic social interactions.»

«That would be both acceptable and efficient,» replies Kay. «Provided that he doesn't try to disassemble you.»

Bodhi snorts. «He seems to understand I'm just there to help,» he signs, though he has some similar worries. «We may as well try it now. Could you please ask them for an extra large cup of caf for me?» Kay's helpful enough in getting the trays together, including Bodhi's massive cup of caf, which he drinks almost half of on the walk to the cell. «Wish me luck,» he signs before Kay hands him the trays and opens the door.

The Jedi is pacing about his cell as Bodhi enters, which is slightly intimidating, but he stops when he sees that Bodhi's carrying food. He seems to pause for a moment when he realizes that Bodhi's sitting down to eat as well, but after the pause, cracks the first smile that Bodhi's seen on his face. It's a little bit breathtaking. _Definitely not a useful thought._ The Jedi's speaking too fast again while chewing, but Bodhi doesn't mind, he's sure that the guy's got a lot on his mind, cooped up in here all alone.

The face that the Jedi makes when he tries his caf, though, doesn't require any words to explain. «Too bitter? I got some sugar,» Bodhi signs, realizing that the packets are still in his pocket, so he pauses to take them out and set them on the table.

The Jedi examines the packets and tears one open, then gets that suspicious look on his face again. Bodhi sighs, takes one, and pours it on his own tongue, which makes the Jedi blush for some reason— probably embarrassed at accusing Bodhi of trying to drug him again. «Sugar,» he signs again once he's swallowed, trying to be patient.

«Sugar,» signs back the Jedi haltingly and Bodhi nods, taking a sip of his caf while the Jedi pours _all_ of the remaining packets into his own cup— okay, the Jedi has a sweet tooth, Bodhi will bear that in mind in the future. He thinks that the Jedi appreciates having his company, especially when at the end of the meal he sees some tension return to the set of the man's shoulders, but it's not like there's really anything else for Bodhi to do in here, so he sets about tidying the trays, getting ready to leave. 

He jumps back— or at least he tries to— when the Jedi grabs his wrist. "Get off!" he shouts, yanking his arm against the hold, which the Jedi instantly releases. "No," he shouts, making the sign as well, and at least the Jedi looks suitably chastened, if also a bit frustrated. He stands up, circling around Bodhi until he's between Bodhi and the door.

Bodhi can feel his heart pounding in his ears— he can't reach for the signal button, because then the Jedi might rush Kay, and he hasn't had a chance to replace any of the broken surveillance equipment he swept up yesterday— but to his surprise, the Jedi simply points to himself, then starts gesturing at the door. Bodhi's so terrified that it takes him a moment to realize that the Jedi is actually tracing Aurebesh against the door, and it takes another couple of repetitions before he can figure out what the Jedi's writing.

"Luke?" he says, probably a bit too loudy by the way the Jedi winces, but he does nod. "You're Luke?" he repeats, and the Jedi— Luke— nods, then tilts his head and points at Bodhi.

Bodhi lets out a ragged sigh, trying to catch his breath from the moment of panic, and nods his head. He traces the letters of his name on the table, his fingers still trembling a little, but this is fine; Luke just wants to know his name, he's the only person Luke's going to see much of, that makes sense. Once Luke seems to have it— the movement of his lips is about right— Bodhi slowly spells out his name in sign, points to himself, then spells out «Luke» and points to the Jedi. Luke picks up on it pretty quickly, signing it back after a couple attempts, beaming when Bodhi says, "You have it," and Bodhi _really_ shouldn't like it that much when Luke smiles, not when he's taking care of him for Imperial interrogators.

It's only going to make this job that much harder.

Bodhi startles when he feels the signal device in his pocket vibrating, which makes Luke jump as well, but Bodhi tries to wave it off as he pulls the box out— apparently, he's taking too long. "Have to go," he says, grabbing the trays and after a few moments Luke nods, looking oddly disappointed as he retreats back to his bed.

Bodhi tries not to dwell on it too much as he presses the button and steps into the antechamber. «I heard yelling. Did he try to disassemble you?» asks Kay, his motions conveying what seems like genuine concern, and Bodhi simply shakes his head, still a little nervous about what actually had happened.

When they return around lunchtime with more trays and new cameras and audio sensors to install— Bodhi doesn't want to pretend that he'd been anything but lucky this morning— the Stormtroopers won't let them through, and has to wait until Kay takes him aside and sets down the trays to find out what's going on.

«He's being interrogated, they'll let me know when we'll be needed again,» Kay signs. «It may be some time, let's get you fed at least.» Kay picks the trays back up, and Bodhi follows behind him, feeling rather sick to his stomach, though he's not going to tell Kay that.

Things feel slightly less bleak when he finds Galen in the mess, breaking away from Kay to go sit with the one person he knows on base. «It's good to see you,» he signs at Galen a bit frantically.

Galen seems a little surprised he's signing so openly, but drops his fork to reply. «Bodhi, it is good to see you too. Something wrong with your implants? I have some free time to look at them this evening if you're having problems again,» he signs— Bodhi's malfunctioning implants had been the start of their friendship, and how he'd learned that Galen knew Galactic Sign.

Bodhi glances over at Kay, who's now standing over them, head tilted. «New assignment, not supposed to talk about it, but they were confiscated until it's over,» he signs. 

He's a little annoyed when he sees Galen speaking— probably to Kay— without signing as well, but Galen remembers quickly enough. «Sorry, just meeting your new assistant,» he signs.

Kay sets one of the trays in front of Bodhi. «I wasn't aware anyone else on base knew sign. If you have a friend to eat with, I suppose I'm not necessary. I'm going to recharge. Nice to meet you, Galen,» he says, giving Bodhi a scant wave before walking off, though the officer who'd caught Bodhi staring last night intercepts him. Hopefully whatever he needs from Kay will be taken care of quickly enough so that Kay will come get him once they can actually get back to their duties— and Bodhi swallows roughly when he remembers that Luke's being _interrogated_ right now. He remembers how people on Jedha came back from Imperial interrogations, if they ever returned, and it's never been pretty.

Galen taps his hand to get his attention, a gentle smile on his face. «Are you okay?» he signs.

Bodhi bites on his lips— no, he's not, not really, but he's not supposed to say anything. On the other hand, he's pretty sure Galen won't tell anyone either. He glances towards the cameras in the far corner of the room— he can't be sure that no one watching won't notice. «I'm having trouble adjusting to my new assignment. I enlisted to fly cargo, not to,» and he pauses, considering his words and the potential audience, «not to do this,» he concludes, glancing pointedly at the camera again.

Galen's gaze follows his and Bodhi can see the comprehension dawn in his eyes. «You're not alone in doing a job you don't always like,» he signs. «Why don't you come to my quarters tonight, it might not seem so bad after a few glasses of Corellian brandy,» he offers and Bodhi nods— yes, it would be better to have this conversation in private. «But now, we should both eat— whatever you're doing, you'll need your energy to do it,» he signs, giving Bodhi's hand another comforting touch before picking up his fork.

The rest of the afternoon passes uneasily for Bodhi, trying and failing to concentrate on a transnovel in his room before giving up and pulling up his old Academy notes on field medicine, just in case he needs them. He's getting the point where he's about ready to start pacing when Kay finally appears. «Lord Vader is finished, we can go in now,» he signs.

Bodhi swallows roughly— fucking _Vader's_ interrogating him? Well, that actually makes a certain amount of sense, but it's even more terrifying than Imperial Intelligence. He glances at the pack sitting at the foot of his bed, still full of surveillance equipment— no, he's got other priorities now. «We'll need food and fresh clothes. Do you think you can get me a medkit?» he asks, and Kay tosses a pack at him which already has everything except for the food inside of it. «You're very good at your job,» he signs once he's shouldered the pack.

«Thank you, you seem to be competent at yours as well,» signs Kay, which is probably as high a compliment as Bodhi could hope for. They make a quick stop by the mess to get Bodhi and Luke's dinner, then head towards the cell, Bodhi feeling horribly grateful that Vader is nowhere to be seen.

Evidence of Vader, however, is unmistakable once the door opens. Once again, most of the furniture in the room is overturned, a strange ozone stink in the air, and there are fresh dents in the paneling that Bodhi doesn't want to think about, or have time to, not when Luke's wedged himself in a corner, bloody and bruised with his hair matted against his head with sweat.

Bodhi sets the trays on the table and pulls off the pack, giving Luke an awkward wave as he pulls the medkit out of the pack. Luke flinches as Bodhi approaches, which shouldn't sting as much as it does— it's not like Bodhi _asked_ to be party to his torture. "Please, let me help," he says simply.

It takes several long moments and Bodhi's almost ready to give up and just leave the medkit for Luke to tend himself when Luke finally gives him a tight nod and stretches his limbs back out. Bodhi kneels next to him and tries to assess the damage, pulling away the torn remnants of Luke's shirt— there aren't any missing digits or teeth like he'd been worried there might be, but Luke is basically one large bruise now, with some probably cracked ribs, several superficial cuts, and what look like _burns_. Bodhi really doesn't want to think about how he might have gotten those, or what had hurt a Jedi badly enough to make him soil himself. 

"Clean first," he says, helping Luke to his feet and then serving as a crutch for the very wobbly Luke to make it over to the shower. Bodhi doesn't trust Luke to bend over the way that he's swaying, so he winds up helping Luke take his soiled pants and shorts off, bagging them along with the tattered shirt while leaving Luke propped up against the wall under the spray, giving him what little privacy the situation allows. After a few minutes he figures the water's done what it can, and he turns it off, tapping on Luke's shoulder— fuck, he's _crying_ — and Bodhi turns the tapping into an awkward sort of comforting caress, which at least gets Luke's attention. Bodhi dries him off and gets him into a pair of shorts, averting his eyes as much as possible while still doing the job, then helps Luke stagger into bed.

He finds some painkillers in the medkit— probably not strong enough, but they'll have to do— and then Luke refuses to take them. Bodhi groans— of course, after all his concern about being unwittingly drugged, it's not like he'd let Bodhi start now. "Fine," he snaps, setting them aside, and then does his best with his limited bacta patches, coldpacks and numbspray.

It's a patchy job at best, but it's what Bodhi can do, and Luke at least has stopped shaking by the time he's done. He glances back at the table and signs «Eat?» at Luke hopefully, but Luke shakes his head at that as well, which Bodhi supposes is understandable. He seems to be trying to sit up in the alcove, which makes less sense, and glares at Bodhi when he tries to push him back down, so Bodhi sighs and helps him up. Luke struggles to get his legs folded under himself and then he gives Bodhi a small wave before closing his eyes and going very still— maybe he's trying to meditate? The guardians had claimed meditation could facilitate healing, though Bodhi's always been a bit skeptical about it.

Bodhi finishes cleaning up the cell, then sits down to choke down what little he can of his own long cold dinner, watching the all but motionless Luke the whole time. He figures he only has a few minutes before Kay gets nervous again, and wonders if he should disturb him. When he gets up, he does his best to keep his voice soft as he says, "Time to go."

Luke's eyes shoot open all the same. Bodhi cringes— maybe he shouldn't have done that. But Luke doesn't look upset; he actually smiles and raises his hand, beckoning Bodhi. Bodhi swallows roughly but obediently steps closer to Luke, who keeps motioning him closer, to the point where Bodhi can notice that the bruises and welts actually have faded just a little bit— and the thought distracts him from thinking about why Luke wants him so close— 

Which is to gently take Bodhi's hand— apparently he'd learned his lesson about grabbing earlier, and this time he's more nudging Bodhi's fingers with his own until Bodhi squeezes Luke's hand almost instinctively, unable to deny Luke this shred of comfort. Luke's fingertips are stroking against his palm now— no, just one finger— oh, he's doing the Aurebesh thing again, and Bodhi's heart breaks a little bit as he realizes Luke has spelled 'thank you' on his palm.

"I'm sorry," he says and signs, his eyes stinging, but Luke shakes his head, spelling the words out on Bodhi's palm again before tilting his head expectantly. Bodhi takes a shaky breath and shows Luke how to make the signs.

«Thank you, Bodhi. Thank you. Thank you,» Luke signs at him before taking a long breath of his own, reaching for Bodhi's hand again to give it a squeeze, then giving him a sad wave before resuming his meditation pose. 

Bodhi's really not sure what to make of that. He does know that he feels like the most worthless piece of shit in the galaxy as he leaves— he's just another one of Luke's jailers, really, even if he's not one of the ones who does the torturing, he's _helping_. But he does his best to keep himself together, not wanting any of the guards watching the camera in the antechamber to know how rattled he is. He hands Kay the trays, biting on his lips. «Could you please return these? Galen offered me a drink and I could really use one now,» he signs.

Kay's visual sensors flicker and his head tilts, but he detaches the text readout from his shoulder, showing it to Bodhi. 'Go get your drink.' 

Bodhi barely remembers to thank him before he's scurrying off, taking a quick pit stop at one of the community 'freshers to throw up. But he goes to Galen's quarters, even with the pitying look that Galen gives him when he opens the door, because he can't stand the idea of being alone with these thoughts tonight. «Yes, I know how bad I look,» he signs at Galen, though he hadn't been willing to look at himself in the mirror while washing up.

Galen shuts the door and heads straight for the shelf where he keeps his brandy, pouring out one full tumbler and one sane portion, setting the full one on the table in front of Bodhi. «Whatever you need to tell me, I'm right here,» he signs before taking a small sip of brandy. Bodhi gulps his down, not missing the way that Galen winces as he does. «That bad?»

«The worst,» Bodhi signs once he sets his half-empty glass down. «I don't think I can do this. It's wrong,» he signs emphatically, nearly knocking the glass over.

«You are free to tell me anything here,» Galen reminds Bodhi, glancing over at the planter and the not-terribly discreet surveillance microphone in it.

Bodhi looks around the room, remembering that while Galen's admitted he's one of the reasons there are so many cameras in the facility and his rooms are wired for sound, he has been afforded the dignity of not having cameras in his quarters. «They have me taking care of a Jedi they're interrogating here. Torturing here,» he amends, taking another long sip of brandy. «The Director thought because I couldn't hear, the Jedi wouldn't be able to affect me, and he can't, not that way, but he—» and Bodhi slams his fist on the table get rid of some of his frustration. «I get to be kind to him but that doesn't mean I'm not helping them.»

Galen seems cautiously thoughtful, pouring Bodhi a little more brandy. «That explains Vader's frequent visits these past few weeks. When did this start?»

«I don't know. I started yesterday and I—» Bodhi shakes his head, eyes stinging again. «I already know I can't be a part of this, but I don't know what to do, I don't have a ship, they took my implants, with my history with the guardians I worry if I try to resign they'll kill me rather than risk me telling someone about Luke,» he signs frantically. 

Galen reaches out and squeezes Bodhi's shoulder. «I understand,» he signs, looking Bodhi right in the eyes. Bodhi sees the sadness that's always been in Galen's eyes and posture come to the forefront as he pours himself a little more brandy, clinking it against Bodhi's before gulping it down himself. «You'd be willing to do almost anything to stop this?» he asks, leaning forward a bit.

Bodhi considers the question— he's never seen Galen quite so intent before. «Yes. I don't want to hurt anyone, or help them hurt anyone else,» he finally signs— his own life's not worth hurting anyone else to get out of this situation, but most anything else: he'd do that.

Galen's mouth quirks in a horribly sad smile. «My wife used to tell me, 'All is as the Force wills it.'»

Bodhi huffs out a bitter laugh. «So did my mother. And the guardians. But if this what the Force wills, I have a few problems with the Force too.»

«But the Force willed you here, to this point, in this week of all weeks. Perhaps it knows what it's doing,» signs Galen, his smile turning a bit more earnest, though Bodhi's wondering if maybe he's had too much to drink, because he's having a little trouble following what Galen's talking about. «The Jedi— Luke, you called him. Do you think you might be able to get him to trust you?»

Bodhi's stomach churns at the question. «Maybe. I mean— he _thanked_ me after they tortured him today, so I guess he doesn't hate me at least. I could try,» he signs, hands falling limply to his side when he's done.

«It will complicate things somewhat, but if he's willing to cooperate— they want him back, I'm sure— we might all make it out of this alive,» signs Galen.

Bodhi's eyes go very wide— okay, it seems like Galen has a _plan_ but how has he managed to come up with one so quickly? «Who wants him back? And the security around him is tight. Very tight. I don't even have the keycodes for the doors, we'd have to slice Kay,» he signs, shaking his head almost unconsciously, because for all that he's kind of snippy, Kay's at least been kind to him throughout and it would feel wrong, doing that. 

But to Bodhi's surprise, Galen's eyes are gleaming. «I have a few things to tell you about our friend Kay.»

It winds up being a _very_ long night, and Bodhi's looking a bit haggard when he meets Kay at the mess the next morning. Still, now that Galen's let him in on so many secrets, it's not that difficult to tell the droid's been reprogrammed for the Rebellion as well as protocol— something in the way that he walks. «Maybe wait until the afternoon to install the cameras,» signs Kay, after noticing the way Bodhi's hands tremble a bit in his greeting. «It's delicate work.»

Bodhi nods as they make their way through the line, grabbing a large handful of sugar packets for Luke and tucking them in his pocket. «Think I'll hold off until tomorrow, depending on how he's healing. He wasn't much of a threat last night,» he signs, looking around— yes, there's that one officer again, apparently Kay's real partner here— if Galen's had a chance to speak with him about the change of plans yet, the man shows no sign of it. But Bodhi tries not to worry about it that much— his mission is to try to get Luke to trust him enough to join the escape.

When Bodhi gets to the cell, Luke's in his meditation pose, very possibly _still_ in his meditation pose. He smiles as he opens his eyes, waving hello, then signing Bodhi's name— okay, that's kind of promising. Bodhi sets the trays on the table and signs, «Hello, Luke, come eat,» as he sits. Luke's moving a bit stiffly, but once he's in the better light outside the alcove, Bodhi can see the bruises look several days older than they ought to. 

Luke's smile remains dangerous, beaming brightly as Bodhi takes several attempts to get all of the sugar packets out of his pocket. «Thank you. Sugar,» he signs before pouring several into his caf and protein porridge.

To Bodhi's confusion, he looks up at Bodhi, points at him, and signs «sugar,» again while giving Bodhi a look that's kind of heart melting, shaking his head and laughing when Bodhi responds by searching through his pockets for any more stray packets— maybe he'd just been trying to say 'thank you' again, the signs aren't that different for a beginner. Then he starts in on his food— apparently all that healing's made him hungry, while Bodhi picks at his own breakfast as he considers how to better communicate with Luke. He and Galen had brainstormed a couple of different plans; hopefully one of them will work.

He waits until Luke's mostly done eating to clear his throat— he'd practiced saying the phrase last night after he left Galen's, over and over, not wanting to get it wrong or garble the unfamiliar planet's name. According to Galen, if Luke's part of the Rebellion, this should get an instant result. 

"By the light of Lothal's moons," Bodhi says.

Luke drops his spoon and _stares_ at Bodhi, his lips clearly enunciating the word 'what,' but when Bodhi starts to repeat himself he shushes him with his hands, eyes darting around the room, apparently forgetting in the moment that he's smashed all the microphones. He's speaking too quickly again and Bodhi groans in frustration. 

Luke looks suitably sheepish, and slows down, the words, 'oh, you're really—' easy enough to read, and Bodhi gives him a slightly exasperated nod in reply. Luke appears thoughtful for a few moments, opens his mouth as if to say something, but then shuts it again.

Bodhi raises his hands, giving Luke a slightly pained smile— he's been thinking about this problem since last night and even now is having second thoughts— maybe he should have tried smuggling a grease pencil in here, but he really doesn't want to tip off the guards to anything. Taking a deep breath, he reaches for Luke's hand this time, tracing Luke's name in Aurebesh while signing it with his right hand. Luke nods in understanding, signing «Bodhi» right back at him. Bodhi starts at the beginning: aurek, besh, cresh, nodding when understanding dawns on Luke's face— then can't help but let out a chuckle at the face Luke makes— yes, this is going to take awhile. 

But Bodhi approaches it methodically and Luke is a quick enough study, and by the time Bodhi's getting a little worried that maybe he's been in here too long, Luke is able to spell at him, «Rescue?»

«Soon,» spells back Bodhi, getting to his feet. He pulls a fresh set of clothes out of his pack for Luke before shouldering it and pulling out the signal box. 

Luke appears to understand, though some emotion flashes over his features— hurt? Or more likely frustration that Bodhi has to leave, unaware that he now knows nearly as much about the actual escape plan as Bodhi does. «Thank you, sugar,» he signs, and Bodhi blushes as he takes in what Luke means, with a weird, fluttery feeling in his chest as he presses the signal button and steps out the door.

 _Fuck, he's_ flirting _with me._

Bodhi's a little giddy, confused, and conflicted at that totally ridiculous thought— it's been a strange couple of days and he hasn't had much sleep— so he's not paying attention to the conversation that Kay's having with one of the 'troopers at the main guard post in the wing. But then Kay taps him on the shoulder. «We've been summoned to a meeting with Lieutenant Sward,» signs Kay.

Bodhi's heart immediately sinks— he's supposed to go find Galen and find out more about the plan— but he does his best not to let it show. «What about?» he asks.

Kay shrugs. «They didn't say. But we're to go there immediately— the troopers will return the breakfast trays,» he signs as Bodhi reaches for them.

The walk to Sward's office isn't terribly long, but Bodhi does his best to tamp down his anxiety on the walk. Kay's the one who's an actual secret rebel and he doesn't seem alarmed— if he can be alarmed— and it's probably just some routine territorial pissing between officers. He's never heard of this Lieutenant Sward, but then the Director had just plopped him into this assignment with no warning. Maybe he's one of the officers in charge of this wing?

Bodhi's many fears are mostly allayed when the office doors open— and Lieutenant Sward is actually Kay's friend. Whom Bodhi isn't necessarily supposed to know about yet— hopefully Galen's had a word with him already, maybe this won't be so bad, and _fuck,_ Bodhi needs some proper sleep or some stims so that he can think straight. He gives Sward a salute out of pure habit, though it should look good if he's missed any cameras in his quick scan of the office, and waits for Kay to start translating whatever it is Sward's saying— though the scowl Sward makes at the salute isn't very encouraging.

«... now I've got objectives recruiting assets for me, can't fucking believe any of this— Kay, you don't need to translate that— oh, never mind. So you're Bodhi Rook, the caretaker?» Bodhi nods in reply and Sward gestures at a data pad while he adjusts a small device on his desk. «Only had a few minutes to look at your file after speaking to Galen. It says you're from Jedha. I bet your uniform makes you pretty popular at home.»

Bodhi frowns. «It was a paycheck,» he signs in reply. «If you know anything about Jedha you know how hard those can be to come by these days, especially for someone with cybernetics— and my mother needed medicine.»

Sward's scowl only deepens. «Now that she's gone, I'm supposed to believe you can finally afford morals?»

Bodhi's nostrils flare— even if this man is a spy and it's his job to be a suspicious bastard, that had been a low blow. «My mother was a pious woman and I enlisted to haul cargo but now I'm helping to torture a Jedi, that's _blasphemy_ ,» he signs. «Would you believe _that_?»

Sward's lips purse and his dark eyes narrow before he lets out a sigh. «And you're just going to let me in the last door? I've been up for days trying to figure out a way to get a message to Skywalker and you just decide to have a crisis of conscience second day on the job?» translates Kay.

Bodhi tilts his head— okay, Luke's got a last name, or a codename or something. «I doubt Krennic read my file as closely as you did,» he signs. «He never bothered to ask me if I'd be okay with this— didn't even tell me what I would be doing. I guess that's lucky for you, I would have told him straight away I couldn't do it.»

Sward's lips very nearly turn up in a smile. «Krennic is the sort that tends to view organics as cheaper and more easily replaced than the mouse droids he was losing to Skywalker. Two or three a day.» Kay nods as he translates this, which Bodhi takes as a confirmation. «But can you actually get a message to Skywalker? I know he doesn't know any sign and those checkpoints you go through are pretty thorough— maybe some flimsi in your boots would work.»

Bodhi nods. «We're working on it— he's learning and I'm deaf, not mute. He knows we're working on an escape though,» Bodhi signs, not missing Sward's wince. «Sorry if I meddled with your plans, but Galen said it was happening soon. Luke will want details— I know I would.»

«It's not that,» translates Kay while Sward scrubs hard at his face with one hand. «It's that he's being interrogated by Vader. Vader has those,» and there's a pause, as Bodhi sees Sward practically spit the next word out, «Sith powers. I know that Skywalker must be holding out pretty well— honestly it's a miracle he's alive at all, but Vader apparently doesn't always need you to talk to get what he wants.»

After a few moment's consideration, Bodhi nods— maybe Luke's been trained to withstand interrogation, but he can't really trust _himself_ , if he ever has the bad luck to encounter Vader before the escape. «I guess I'll just have to trust you,» he signs, his hands falling limply to his sides.

Sward's eyes shut for a moment and he looks almost pained. «I guess you will.»

Bodhi's not entirely satisfied with the meager information that Sward gives him, but he supposes it's all for the best— it's not like he's the trained spy. It doesn't become awkward until _Luke's_ the unsatisfied one, slamming his hand on the table and rattling the empty trays when all Bodhi can tell him about the plan is that it will happen «in a week or two.» 

Luke stands up from the table and stalks around the cell a few times— Bodhi supposes he can't blame him for it. After a minute of so he sits back down and begins to painstakingly spell. «He will come back,» before letting his head hang low from his shoulders, mottled bruises and faded burns peeking out from under his short sleeves.

Bodhi swallows roughly— he hadn't really been thinking this far ahead when he'd given Sward _his_ trust. He's not sure what to do, but Luke looks so… broken that he can't just sit here. He gets up and circles the table, laying what he hopes is a comforting arm around Luke's quaking shoulders, and is slightly gratified when Luke's arms hook around him, squeezing him close, and in turn Bodhi hugs Luke back a bit awkwardly.

After Luke's had a few minutes to sob, he pulls away, wiping at his face with his hand. «Thank you. Sorry. Tired,» signs Luke, having to spell out the last two words— the last is technically 'sired,' but it's not hard to figure out what Luke means. Bodhi nods and goes to refill Luke's cup with water, setting it in front of him, half-wishing he could smuggle Luke something stronger. Once Luke's gulped half of it down, Bodhi gives him a placating smile as Luke signs, «What now?»

«Wait. Learn more,» Bodhi signs back. Learning a few more key signs helps distract Luke from the frustration a bit, and should help during the escape, especially if anything happens to Kay. And Bodhi's even willing to admit to himself that he finds the idea of being able to just… talk with Luke more compelling than it probably should be. 

After awhile it devolves into Luke asking how to sign some rather silly things like 'speeder crash,' 'beer,' and 'tooka-cat,' which Bodhi indulges just because it's nice to see Luke laughing after the rough start, though he has no clue what the sign for krayt-dragon is, to Luke's disappointment. «One more, then I need to go,» he finally signs, rather proud that Luke can understand a whole sentence already.

Luke's head cocks to the side thoughtfully. «Kiss,» he spells out and it would be a lot easier for Bodhi if Luke were grinning, but he looks rather serious about it. Bodhi bites his lips together, but he obligingly makes the sign, and his heart pounds in his chest when Luke instantly pairs it with another one of his new signs, a hopeful look on his face. «Give kiss?» Bodhi groans and glances back at the door, but Luke's come closer, giving him a shy look despite being bold enough to ask this in the first place and signs, «Please.»

Bodhi whimpers— this is a terrible idea, but he's too tired to deny that he really kind of wants to kiss Luke— and so he leans in and brushes his lips against Luke's— fuck, there's no reason they should feel as soft as they do, or that a simple brush of his lips should have his heart pounding like this. Fighting off every instinct in his body, Bodhi pulls away after a few moments. «Be back soon,» he signs, grabbing the trays and pressing the signal button, but not without noticing the giddy grin on Luke's face as he leaves.

The next day passes much the same— bringing Luke his meals, teaching him some more signs as they put together a pidgin of signed Basic to suit the short time Luke has to learn, enjoying the little kisses that he asks for when Bodhi leaves. He doesn't mention the kisses to Kay or Galen when he visits that night— they're just tiny bright spots that help buoy his mood despite all the tension and anxiety in waiting and preparing for the escape. Instead he lets Galen talk about how excited he is to be reunited with his long-lost daughter and how proud he is of her; she's also joined the Rebel Alliance and is the whole reason why Sward and Kay are here in the first place. Bodhi leaves Galen's quarters feeling cautiously hopeful— if the rest of the days until they leave go like this, he might just be able to make it through it.

Unfortunately, right as Bodhi and Luke are finishing breakfast the next morning, he feels the signal device buzzing in his pocket. «Have to go,» he signs, a bit mournfully. Luke looks equally disappointed, but nods, leaning over the table to give Bodhi another kiss, slipping Bodhi just a little bit of tongue this time that has him whimpering in frustration when the kiss breaks.

He's still gathering up the trays when he sees Luke go pale— he turns and sees the door already open— 

— and Lord Vader striding through it.

Bodhi fumbles the trays as he pulls off a salute, feeling the blood drain from his own face.

Vader looms so large in his vision that Bodhi's lucky that he's too terrified to look at the mask for more than a split second— he just barely catches Kay translating for him. «So this is Director Krennic's elegant solution. Very well, you may leave us now,» says Vader and Bodhi doesn't dare linger or look back at Luke before making another salute and rushing out of the room.

Bodhi leans his head against the wall of the antechamber, trays dangling from his hand as he takes a moment to collect himself, though the cameras mean he can't show quite as much distress as he feels. Or maybe he could have— the officers and 'troopers at the checkpoints seem nearly as shaken as Bodhi feels. «Is that normal, for them to be like that, when Vader's around?» he asks Kay as they return the trays.

Kay shakes his head. «One of them mentioned that he was in an even worse mood than normal,» signs Kay. Bodhi feels his heart sink into his stomach, not wanting to think about how much worse that might make things on Luke. «Were the supplies in the medkit sufficient last time? I'll have to resupply it anyway,» signs Kay and Bodhi knows that he's just trying to be helpful and pragmatic, but damned if it doesn't make him feel worse.

«Not quite. More bacta patches and numbspray would be better, if you could get them. Get as much as you can, please,» he manages to sign.

Kay nods. «Your heart rate has been elevated since we left the cell, perhaps you should come to the medical wing with me,» he signs, but Bodhi begs off and retreats to his room to lie down for awhile instead. It's not very restful, his mind intent on imagining all the terrible things that Vader might be doing to Luke— or if Sward's right and Vader will pluck the fact of the escape right out Luke's head, fuck, 'troopers might be coming to take him right now. 

But when the door to his room opens a few hours later, it's just Kay and his pack full of supplies. «It's time,» signs Kay simply and Bodhi scrubs his face with one hand before getting up to follow Kay back to Luke's cell, horribly relieved when they don't encounter Vader again.

Luke is indeed in even worse shape this time; where his skin isn't bruised, cut, or burned it's pale and clammy, blood trickling from his mouth, and he doesn't even try to sign at Bodhi as he enters, right hand holding his left tightly. When Bodhi coaxes him to release it he sees it's because two of the fingers are broken. «Sorry, sorry, so sorry,» Bodhi signs, pressing a kiss to Luke's forehead before he opens up the medkit, which Kay has filled to bursting with bacta patches and numbspray, but Bodhi's still not sure it'll be enough.

Luke's trembling all over, but he does manage to slowly sign, «Didn't give him anything,» as Bodhi wipes the blood and sweat off him before starting to apply the numbspray to the burns— so many more burns than last time.

Bodhi bites his lips together. «That's good. Don't talk, splint first,» he signs at Luke, tackling that next, cutting down one of the bacta patches and wrapping them around the fingers before securing the splints, wishing that Luke would stop shaking. «Going to get you to the bed,» he signs, and he does his best to be gentle as he scoops Luke off the floor and carries him over, though Luke still cries out when as Bodhi's arm presses against one of the long burns on his back. Bodhi might not be able to hear it but he still _hates_ himself and _everything_. He manages to get Luke onto the mattress, pulling the blankets up around his legs before applying more numbspray and bacta patches to the burns on his back.

Luke manages a thin, pained smile when Bodhi prompts him to roll onto his back once he's done so that he can tend to his front. «Not way I want you bed,» he signs and Bodhi can't help but laugh at that, his eyes stinging with tears as he presses another kiss to Luke's forehead.

«Not what I want either,» he signs, shaking his head as he finishes his work on Luke's torso. He's looking through the remnants of the medkit before he moves on to Luke's legs, when he comes across the painkillers again. Bodhi sets them next to Luke's hand. «They will help,» he signs and is intensely relieved when Luke sighs and nods, fetching a glass of water so that Luke can take them.

Luke stares at the pills for a moment then looks up at Bodhi, a grim, sad look on his face. «Vader said next visit will be last,» he signs before swallowing the pills. It's Bodhi's turn to stare, throat and stomach going tight. «Understand?» signs Luke after setting the glass down, drawing a finger along his own throat for illustration in case Bodhi doesn't.

But Bodhi does, as much as he wishes he didn't. «Out of time,» he signs.

«Out of time,» Luke repeats, his lips forming the words even as he signs them. «Finish, please,» he signs, his eyes closing as he takes a deep breath. 

Bodhi pushes down the urge to just start crying and instead gets to work, doing what little he can to make all of this slightly less horrible. He taps on Luke's wrist once he's finished and Luke's eyes open, thankfully looking slightly less pained. «Done. Do you want to meditate?» he asks, spelling out the last word.

Luke lets out a sigh before nodding, shifting around on the bed. «Need help,» he signs, wincing as he moves his splinted fingers to do it. Bodhi dutifully helps him sit up, arranging the blankets around him so that he stays warm, though he finally seems to have stopped shaking. «Thank you,» Luke signs before curling his good hand around the back of Bodhi's neck to pull him into a kiss. 

It's the first thing that's felt good or right in hours, deep and tender if a little frantic. Bodhi can't help but moan and respond, just needing this one good thing to help him survive the rest of their horrible reality— maybe that's what Luke needs too. Bodhi's well past breathless by the time the kiss breaks, and he lets out another half-hysterical laugh as Luke signs, «How I want you in bed.»

Bodhi nods, wiping his mouth on his sleeve— fuck, that had been nice, and he'd really like to do it again sometime. «I will get you more time,» he promises. Even if this is just a trick of their situation and Luke doesn't want him any longer once he's out of here— he _needs_ to set this right, to set Luke free, even if he dies trying.

Luke gives Bodhi a bittersweet smile and a small nod. «Come back soon,» he signs, dropping his hands in his lap and closing his eyes to meditate and heal and… that's probably for the best. 

Bodhi's the one who has work to do— first cleaning up all the detritus from patching Luke up and then, once he's in the antechamber, he turns so that Kay can see his hands but the camera can't. «I need to talk to Sward, now,» he signs. «Vader's going to kill him next time.»

Kay's visual sensors brighten. «That is unfortunate. I'll see what I can do,» he signs. Bodhi sighs and nods— probably the best he could hope for. Kay drops him off at the mess hall and he does his best to choke down some food despite his nerves, keeping his eye on the door, waiting for Kay to return. 

He's more than a little furious when Kay doesn't— what the hell is going on, Luke's _life_ is on the line— but heads back to his room after an hour, not knowing where else to go; it's too early to go see Galen.

He's on his way there, walking past the entrance to the droid recharging area, when strong hands clamp around his mouth and waist and drag him inside. Before he has a chance to panic, he's spun around and discovers that Sward's the one who's grabbed him, and he beckons Bodhi with a finger, leading him through the racks to a small utility closet in the back. Kay waves at him as Sward shuts the door tightly behind them.

«This has to be quick,» Kay translates. «What exactly did Skywalker tell you?»

Bodhi grits his teeth. «He said that he hadn't revealed the escape plan to Vader. Then he said Vader told him his next visit would be his last. That he's going to kill him next time. We have to act now!» signs Bodhi, grunting in pain when he hits his hand against a shelf. Sward's face remains infuriatingly blank as he turns his head and says something that Kay doesn't translate, and it's too fast for Bodhi to read his lips. «What are you saying, don't shut me out,» Bodhi signs, controlling the urge to yell even as Sward glares at him.

«We're discussing probabilities, give us a moment,» signs Kay, seemingly speaking for himself, not Sward. Bodhi's hands curl into fists at his sides, but he manages to contain his frustration while the two spies have their private conference. 

After what feels like an eternity, but what's probably only a little more than a minute, Sward turns back to Bodhi and Kay's hands start translating again. «The earliest we can do this is tomorrow, after the morning shipments arrive. Don't go to see Galen tonight. Get everything we discussed ready, and go about your business as normal,» says Sward, wagging his finger at Bodhi, who nods enthusiastically, lips curling up in a hopeful smile.

Sward takes a deep breath and his expression gentles ever so slightly. «May the Force be with you, Bodhi Rook,» he says, and before Bodhi has a chance to say anything back, slips back out the door.

Kay takes a step in front of the door. «We have to wait a few minutes before we leave,» he explains— and that's fine, Bodhi can wait, now. Thanks to Sward, for once in his life, Bodhi's going to get the one thing that he wants with all his heart— they're going to escape tomorrow. Or at least, they're going to try, and that's really all that Bodhi can ask for.

That night is one of the longest in Bodhi's life, and he has precious little to fill it with besides his own thoughts and fears. He puts together his kit for tomorrow, double and triple checking it. He takes a long shower in the barracks, not knowing if wherever they're escaping to will have that kind of luxury.

Then he looks through his meager belongings— he doesn't have much worth bringing along, so he feels slightly less conflicted about the fact that he _can't_ bring much of anything along. His most valuable possessions are his implants, but there's no real chance they'll be able to grab those out of Krennic's office on the way out. Bodhi will be able to bring along his stash of credit chips— Luke's guards haven't raised any objection to finding those in his pockets— and finally decides he can tie one scarf that his mother wove for him around his waist under his clothes without it being too noticeable, but that's it. 

Bodhi lies in his bed and stares at the ceiling while he fails to sleep. He wonders what Luke's thinking about while he's meditating and then feels a sharp pang of guilt as he remembers Luke still doesn't know that they're going to make their escape tomorrow, but hopefully Luke will forgive him. That is, if Luke has any real interest in him once they're free— if they make it and don't both die tomorrow.

But if they make it to some rebel base and Luke's too busy being a noble and heroic Jedi knight to have any time to dawdle with a deaf ex-Imperial cargo pilot with some credits and a scarf to his name, that's perfectly understandable. Bodhi's not important, and he understands that. At least, part of him does; there's another part that desperately wants Luke's interest to be real, wants more of his teasing, his smiles, his kisses…

Bodhi glances over at the chrono, sees that it's still hours until dawn, and barely keeps himself from screaming his frustration into the pillow. Two hours after that, desperate after envisioning dozens of different scenarios where he watches Luke die before dying horribly himself, Bodhi finds himself praying for the first time in years, focusing on the memory of Master Malbus' giant, gentle hands making the signs. _«The Force is with me, and I am one with the Force; and I fear nothing, because all is as the Force wills it.»_ He loses himself in the rhythm and repetition of the motions and finally sleeps.

In the morning Bodhi dresses carefully, checks his pack one more time, and heads to the mess to meet Kay, doing his best to act normally even though he keeps pulling at his collar. Kay appears unaffected, and Bodhi rather envies the droid for his thermoregulation abilities, though he knows the KX-series specializes in strategic analysis and Kay could be running thousands of simulations a minute, for all he knows. At least Kay's the one who gets to do the talking at the security checkpoints, explaining that Bodhi's going to finally be installing the new surveillance equipment in the cell, and the 'troopers are far too occupied with scrutinizing all of Bodhi's pack to do more than a cursory search of his person.

Bodhi takes a deep breath as they step into the antechamber. «Wish me luck,» he signs as he takes the trays, but is surprised when Kay lays a hand on his shoulder, leaning over him and subtly turning him so he'll block the camera's view.

«You need to know: you and the Jedi are secondary objectives. Cassian's primary goal is only the scientist. He'll leave without us if he must, and he does not have the ability to store your consciousness on a back up drive,» Kay signs quickly. «I will do what I can to give you the best possible odds.»

Bodhi's eyes go wide: it's not that much of a surprise, really— that Sward has a different name, or that he has ranked priorities on this mission and Bodhi's not a top one— but it is that much more pressure. At the same time, Bodhi's rather touched that Kay's bothered to warn him, but he can't do anything more than give Kay a nod to indicate that he understands. Kay opens the door and Bodhi steps inside, ready to do his part.

Unsurprisingly, he finds Luke still in his meditation pose— other than healing, if he's lucky, meditation brings him some kind of peace. Luke's eyes come open slowly, his smile thin and a bit sad. «Hello. What do you have?» he signs, pointing at the pack that Bodhi's setting on the floor.

«Eat first,» signs Bodhi— he knows Luke's going to be excited and have a lot of questions, but with all the healing and everything, it's important that Luke have as much strength as he can muster. Luke looks a little disappointed while he slowly gets out of bed and comes toward the table, and Bodhi can't help but take some pity on someone looking that bruised and sulky. «Kiss first?» he offers and Luke looks a little surprised before he grins, leaning over the table to claim his prize— his breath is terrible, but it's still a pretty damn good kiss, Bodhi thinks, and Luke's spirits are suitably improved as they eat.

Thankfully, there's no need to tell Luke to eat any quicker than he normally does, though he does tilt his head when he sees Bodhi eating nearly as fast. «Something wrong?» Luke signs once Bodhi's choked down the rest of his protein porridge. «You're wet,» he adds, pointing at the beads of sweat of Bodhi's brow.

Bodhi nods, taking another deep breath before he signs. «Because escape soon. Today,» he clarifies, pulling at the fasteners on his coveralls and starting to strip them off. 

Luke's so surprised by _that_ that he stops signing whatever question he has and simply stares as Bodhi steps out of his coveralls and reveals another set of coveralls. «Shower fast. Put these on. Don't wash hair,» Bodhi adds, feeling a little better now that he's lost a layer— it still feels too warm in here for once, but that's probably just the nerves.

Luke's obediently headed to the 'fresher, and as tempting as it might be to peek, Bodhi's got more yet to do. He pulls his tools out of his pack, setting the tin of grease and his work lamp to the side, and starts pulling off the access panel by the door. It _shouldn't_ set off any alarms— he'd have to do this to install the surveillance equipment, but his hands are shaking a little as he pulls out the screws, cursing as he drops a couple by accident before he remembers he's not going to have to put them back anyway. 

He jumps when there's a tap on his shoulder, even though he knows it's just Luke. The borrowed coveralls fit Luke reasonably well, long sleeves and cuffs concealing almost all of his injuries, though they're a bit tight around the shoulders. «Shoes?» signs Luke.

Bodhi shakes his head, grabbing the grease tin and getting to his feet. «No way to get them in here. The spy says no one looks at shoes,» he adds, though Luke looks skeptical. «Sit here,» signs Bodhi, pointing to the chair and opening the grease tin which he's filled with boot polish— and maybe Sward had a point, because no one at the checkpoint had noticed all the lingering polish under his fingernails. He combs the polish through Luke's blond hair with his fingers and it does a pretty effective job of obscuring the color— Luke doesn't look thrilled with this turn of events, but it's not too clumpy and in the rest of the confusion, the color change might buy them precious seconds if they come across any 'troopers who'd been part of the guard that brought him in.

«You look good,» Bodhi signs— it's a little bit of a lie—- before taking a couple of minutes to wash his hands, cursing at how long it takes and grateful he'd done the finicky work with the panel first. 

Luke's patience has worn a bit thin by the time Bodhi's finished. «What next, what is plan?» he signs, the motions a bit sloppy and frantic, though Bodhi notes his broken fingers don't seem to be bothering him as much.

«There will be explosions,» he signs, grateful that he's taught Luke that word. «First small, then big,» he adds, praying that it actually works out that way— but then, Galen is _the_ expert in kyber crystals, so Bodhi's cautiously optimistic. «The power will fail, and base will go on lock-down,» he spells out before grabbing his work lamp and setting it on the table in front of Luke, then pointing at the door and the open panel.

«The droid and I will open doors— you hold light. The droid is with us,» he signs when Luke looks a little surprised at that. «After second door, guards. Can you help with guards?» Luke's smile as he nods is a little bit dangerous. «Then we run to hangar, meet spy and friend, steal ship, and leave.»

Luke frowns. «Seems too simple,» he spells out.

Bodhi shrugs— that had been his initial reaction to Sward's reveal, but then again, he's not the one who had to infiltrate an enemy installation for weeks to get into position to do it. «Long plan. This is the simple part,» he signs, glancing over at the door panel again— overriding the lock on that won't exactly be simple either. «The way to the hangar is long. Most guards will go to the explosions, but there will be many guards. Follow me or the droid. The droid will tell you how to find the spy and my friend,» he signs, taking a deep breath, «in case we don't make it.»

Luke's jaw tenses and his eyes gleam. «I will keep you safe,» he signs, his movements surprisingly confident and vehement as he spells it out. «The Force is with us,» he adds, and Bodhi finds the platitude a bit more reassuring when it's coming from a Jedi. «How long to explosions?» 

«I don't know,» signs Bodhi, already frustrated by the lack of chronos in here— with his nerves like this, he knows better than to rely on his own sense of time. «But not long,» he signs, patting the pocket with the signal box. «The droid will warn me one minute before.»

Luke nods. «Okay. Sit here?» he signs, patting his lap.

Bodhi huffs out a laugh and spells out, «Bruises,» not wanting to hurt Luke.

Luke shakes his head. «Not so bad. Come here, sugar,» he signs and Bodhi rolls his eyes but the offer is far too tempting— and there's a distinct possibility he'll never get another chance to do this. 

He kneels on the floor between Luke's knees to spare the bruises, not missing the way that Luke's eyebrows go up— not the time, nor would the coveralls really allow for _that_ — and gives Luke a small smile. «This okay?» he asks, but Luke doesn't bother replying, pulling Bodhi in for a long, probing, slightly desperate kiss that has Bodhi's toes curling in his boots. If it winds up being the last kiss he ever gets, at the very least it's a good one.

When the kiss breaks, Luke looks a bit sad and thoughtful, pushing a stray lock of hair out of Bodhi's face. He raises his hands, starting to sign, then shakes his hands in apparent frustration before starting again. 

«I will get us more time,» he signs, and Bodhi's heart flutters in his chest, but before he can reply, he feels the signal box buzzing in his pocket— Luke feels it as well, dipping down to give Bodhi one more fleeting kiss before helping him to his feet. He grabs the work lamp, Bodhi grabs his hydrospanner, and together they go to huddle by the door, Luke's free hand tightly clasped around his despite the splint.

Bodhi's starting to worry about how badly his internal clock's been thrown off by nerves— it feels like it's been a hell of a lot longer than a minute, and Luke's looking confused too— when finally there's a slight tremor in the ground and the lights flicker for a moment. He scarcely has time to enjoy his own sense of relief before the lights cut out entirely and there's a more sustained quake, feeling the shockwave in the wall he's pressed against. Even knowing that it was coming it's a bit terrifying even on the far side of the compound from the refining facilities— _hope Galen and Sward got out of it okay_. 

But Bodhi doesn't have time to think about that, because Luke's turned the work lamp on and Bodhi needs to get the door open, pulling away the next panel and twisting the emergency hydraulic release valves open while hopefully Kay's doing the same on the other side, not having to worry about the magnetic seal thanks to the power outage— yes, it's working, the door's starting to budge, but even with Kay's strength it's horribly slow, until Luke raises his hand in the dim light and the doors flex and shudder apart— fuck, he really _is_ a Jedi.

«We'll need to be faster with the next one if we don't want to be shot by the guards,» signs Kay as a welcome and Bodhi groans— it's not like he doesn't know that, but at least this door isn't quite as heavy and armored as the other one. 

He can see Luke's talking to Kay, which is good— faster and more efficient for them, and it leaves Bodhi's and Kay's hands free to work on the next set of hydraulic valves, a little more carefully this time to avoid tipping off whomever's left on the other side. «I'm done,» he signs, getting up to his feet just a few seconds before Kay signs the same. 

Luke taps Bodhi's shoulder and presses him back against the wall, pressing the lamp into his hands. «Stay,» signs Luke before clicking the lamp off, and Bodhi feels the ghost of his lips against his forehead in the darkness. 

Then he feels another shockwave through the wall, Luke must have used his Force powers to rip the doors apart. He sees the shadow of Kay rushing through from the red emergency lights outside and a blur that can only be Luke, but then it's too many long seconds alone in the dark shadows, flinching away from a stray blaster bolt that hits less than a meter from his feet. Bodhi can't contain his yelp, terrified, defenseless, alone, and with no way of knowing what's happening.

A figure steps back through the door and Bodhi doesn't get a good enough look at it, instinctively resisting the strong grip that pulls on his arm until they're in the light and it's Luke— thank the stars it's Luke, not a Stormtrooper— it's Luke who's stroking the side of his face soothingly while Kay signs, «Bodhi, you must calm down, we're not through yet,» as Bodhi lets out a sob of relief, trying his best to calm down, because as horrible as that had been, Kay's right.

It only takes a few moments to pull himself together, but they might not be moments they have, though Bodhi feels slightly less guilty because Kay and Luke appear to also be sorting out an argument, possibly over Kay wanting to take one of the fallen Stormtrooper's blasters, judging by how unhappy the droid's body language is as he tosses it aside.

«We'll do our best to blend,» Kay signs at Bodhi before opening the door and scanning the hall outside. Luke gives Bodhi's hand one last reassuring squeeze, and once Kay beckons them, they follow him out into the hallway. 

There are more indications of the damage from Galen's blast out here— staff and MSE droids running and scrambling, a couple of sparking control panels and lights, ceiling tiles that have fallen out of place— paradoxically making Bodhi feel safer. They _can_ blend in this confusion: a pair of Stormtroopers race past them as they get to the wing's last security checkpoint without giving them a second look. 

Bodhi tenses when the remaining officer at the checkpoint appears ready to investigate them a little more closely, but Luke raises his hand while saying something and suddenly the guard's waving them through, a blank look on his face. Bodhi stares at Luke as they begin moving again, the planes of his face grim in the red light, but now's not the time for questions— either they'll have plenty of time for them later, or they won't matter at all.

The chaos is in full fledge now that they've reached the main hub of the facility. Technicians, droids and Stormtroopers are working to contain a number of fires that have broken out in the halls leading to the refinery wing, while medical personnel have established what looks like a triage unit on one side of the grand lobby. Bodhi's stomach twists and curdles— _I didn't want to help hurt anyone else_ — and it's the barest of comforts seeing that most of the injuries being treated here appear less serious than the ones he'd tended to on Luke. 

Bodhi feels a tug on his arm— Luke again, a tight, concerned smile on his face. Bodhi blinks at him— he hadn't even realized he'd stopped to stare at everything going on— _It's not that much different from the market blast…_

— but they don't have time for his childhood trauma, they have to get to the hangar, as Kay's so vehemently signing at him. Bodhi shakes his head, taking a deep breath, and concentrates on putting one foot in front of the other as they head down the broad corridor leading to the hangar.

He's so focused on just keeping himself moving that he's almost irritated when he feels Luke tugging on his arm again, until he turns and looks up and sees a trio of troopers and an officer who's screaming so hard that Bodhi feels a fleck of spit hit his face. Luke's words and gesture doesn't seem to have any effect on the man, still raving as he takes another step towards Bodhi.

Luke's face goes flush with indignance and it's all too easy to read the words, "Because he's fucking deaf," on his lips before he steps between Bodhi and the officer. 

Bodhi takes a step backward so he can see Kay start interpreting for him— something about lockdown protocols and evacuation procedures but it's difficult to concentrate. He can't stop glancing over his shoulder towards the doors leading to the hangar, not quite a hundred meters away. 

_We're so close..._

Unfortunately, this officer seems immune to Luke's abilities, and intent on turning them around… and then he looks down at Luke's bare feet.

The Stormtroopers don't have time to raise their blasters before Luke knocks them onto their backs with his powers. 

Kay makes one last sign, «Run!» and then slams his fist down on the officer's head. Bodhi doesn't wait to see him hit the ground, sprinting away as fast as he can, blaster bolts whizzing past him, and worse, the doors are starting to close— Luke might be able to make it but there's no way Bodhi will— 

—and then he feels Kay pick him up by the coveralls and _throw_ him the last few meters through the doors— he rolls onto his side as he lands and slides across the duracrete, catching a glimpse of the blur of Luke making it through just before the doors slam shut. 

Bodhi grimaces as he gets to his feet with Luke's help, scanning around the hangar— there's a group of Stormtroopers pointing at them at the far end, but they're much further away than the Zeta shuttle with a bonding tape 'x' on its ramp, ion drives already charged, which is good, Sward and Galen must already be inside.

But Kay's nowhere to be seen, which hurts worse than the bruises and scrapes. Bodhi shakes his head and starts to run; there will be time to mourn once they're on the shuttle, they _need to get to the shuttle…_

Bodhi's almost to the ramp when he stops short, a blaster bolt hitting the ground centimeters in front of him this time— shit, the Stormtroopers hadn't seemed _that_ close. When he turns, he sees it came from a hulking Deathtrooper on the ramp of the Delta-class shuttle parked across the aisle, along with Director Krennic, who's pulled out his own blaster, the barrel of it pointed directly at Bodhi's chest.

Time all but freezes as Bodhi sees Krennic pull the trigger—

He can see Krennic's lips curling as he snarls the word, "You," and the thought, _Yes, me,_ passes through Bodhi's mind as he braces for death. 

But somehow, the blaster bolt never hits him, frozen in mid-air as Luke pushes him back up the ramp. Bodhi lands on his ass inside the ship, Luke screaming something as the ramp begins to close, sees Krennic and the Deathtrooper shoved sprawling into the Delta shuttle, which is also pushed back by some invisible Force when they try to fire again. Bodhi can feel the shuttle rumbling beneath him, taking off before the ramp's even finished closing. When it's shut, Luke collapses next to him, breathing heavily but pulling Bodhi close.

Bodhi clings right back. It's not until he feels the distinctive rumble of the hyperdrive engaging that Bodhi dares to pull away enough to sign, «We made it,» with shaking and bleeding hands, tears stinging at his eyes.

Luke's smile is exhausted but still enough to take Bodhi's breath away, his hands only a little more steady than Bodhi's. «We made it.»

_Epilogue_

«Ensign Rook, I've just been informed that Captain Andor's requested that you come to meet him in the maintenance annex. Would you like me to accompany you there now?» signs Threepio. Bodhi's thrilled to receive the news, but he also can't help but sigh as he sets his hydrospanner aside and unhooks his harness from the s-foil on the T-65 he's working on.

«I'm not an ensign anymore, you really need to stop calling me that,» Bodhi signs, for what must be the hundredth time in the past few weeks. «Bodhi is fine. Or hey you. I don't care, just knock it off with the 'ensigns,'» he signs as he shrugs the harness off— Threepio's equivocating and signing an apology which Bodhi doesn't even bother to watch, because Threepio can't seem to help himself when it comes to honorifics or equivocating.

Bodhi would love to have a word with whoever the hell programmed the poor thing, one of these days, but not today, because if Cassian wants him to come to the maintenance annex, it means he's finally uploaded Kay into a new chassis. «But yes, you're welcome to join me,» he signs once he's got his tools put away; his newfound friends here on Yavin IV are only starting to pick up Sign, and Kay might not be fully operational when he gets there.

To Bodhi's delight, Galen's in the maintenance annex when he arrives— he's been hard to find lately, busy working with Intelligence and engineering officers on ways to exploit weaknesses in various weapon systems that he'd worked on for the Empire. «They let you out for some air?» Bodhi teases before hugging Galen.

«I thought Kay should have immediate proof his mission was a complete success,» signs Galen as he pulls away. «You're just in time,» he adds, going to stand next to his daughter, Jyn, giving her an affectionate tap on the shoulder as he does. 

Jyn gives Bodhi a welcoming wave. «What do you want to bet Kay complains about the new chassis and doesn't even thank me for stealing it for him, the big grump,» Threepio translates for her.

Bodhi shakes his head, chuckling. «I'm not taking that bet,» he signs, watching Cassian make a few last minute adjustments before finally turning on the power, actual excitement visible on his normally reserved face as the servos and rotors initiate. 

Bodhi swears he sees actual tears in Cassian's eyes as the optical sensors turn on. Or maybe he's just projecting, wiping one from his own face while Threepio's translations abruptly shift from boot processes to, «Cassian, it's good to see you again. I am more than ninety-eight percent operational. Hello, Galen; I see the mission was at least a partial success. And Captain Erso is here for some reason.» 

Bodhi snorts out a laugh at that, and when he looks up he sees that Kay's turned towards him, and is signing, «Bodhi Rook, are you a Rebel now?» 

Bodhi nods vigorously. «I am. I'm a Rebel and I'm alive, thanks to you, you saved my life in the escape,» he signs, hands a little shaky in his relief and excitement.

Kay's head tilts. «That doesn't sound like something I'd do, but I suppose I'll have to believe you. You're welcome. Did General Skywalker survive as well?»

The rest of the afternoon passes all too quickly as they get Kay caught up on everything that's happened since his backup the night before the escape: the escape itself, Jyn's nearly simultaneous escape from her infiltration mission at Scarif to steal the Death Star technical plans, and Luke and Red Squadron's successful destruction of the battle station before it could be deployed. «They were about to fire it on Jedha— but Luke stopped them,» Bodhi signs, tearing up a little again as he remembers how close his home had come to being destroyed.

Cassian shakes his head, rolling his eyes. «Bodhi's got a bad case of hero worship— a lot of people played a part in stopping it, including you, Kay,» translates Threepio, and Bodhi glares at Cassian— what he has for Luke isn't _hero worship_.

As if on cue, Luke walks into the annex, sauntering over to them in his orange flight suit. «Hello, is that Kay I see? Nice to meet you again, finally,» says and signs Luke, and Bodhi can't help the feeling of pride he has at how much better Luke's become at signing. It does make the wait for new auditory implants a lot easier, he thinks as Luke gives him a quick peck on the cheek. «Was hoping Bodhi might be able to find a little time for me tonight,» he signs with a grin.

Kay's visual sensors brighten as Bodhi blushes. «It's nice to meet you too, General Skywalker,» Kay signs. «Bodhi's free to go if you need him, but I need Cassian to fix this unit's faulty left talus motivator before I can go anywhere,» he adds. Jyn elbows Bodhi, shaking her head— he'd been right not to take that bet.

They make their goodbyes shortly after; with promises to get together some nebulous time soon when all of their schedules allow— it'll probably be a week or two, but they're fighting a war and it's to be expected. 

«I was worried when you didn't meet my ship. I thought you might have given up on me after last time,» signs Luke once they get to his quarters, alone at last now that they've dismissed Threepio for the night.

Bodhi chuckles— their last date had ended with Luke being summoned to yet another emergency strategy meeting, but it hadn't been _that_ bad. «You're a very important person— a hero,» he signs, shaking his head again at what Cassian had said. «I understand that I have to share you with everyone else.»

«You're the only one who gets this part of me,» signs Luke before he pulls Bodhi in for a long, tender kiss, good enough to make Bodhi's toes curl. It still feels a little unreal to Bodhi, that he gets to have this part of Luke, that Luke— a general and Jedi knight— would be worried that _he_ might not be interested. Luke strokes his thumb along Bodhi's beard when the kiss breaks, and the look in his eyes has Bodhi's heart doing flip-flops in his chest.

«You're the bright center of my universe,» Luke signs.

Bodhi's eyebrows quirk up. «Did Threepio teach you that?» he asks, biting on his lips. 

Luke shrugs, blushing lightly. «I wanted to surprise and impress you for once,» he signs. «Because you're also _my_ hero.»

Bodhi's eyes sting with tears and he's smiling so hard it almost hurts, unable to contain the joy in his heart. «It was a pretty good line. Very impressive,» he signs, taking a step closer to Luke to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. «But I think I still like it best when you call me 'sugar.'»

Luke's grin is _blinding_. «Whatever you like, sugar,» he signs before pulling Bodhi in for another round of kisses, each one the sweetest one yet.


End file.
